"Symphony No. 2 (Brahms) Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73, was composed by Johannes Brahms in the summer of 1877, during a visit to Pörtschach am Wörthersee, a town in the Austrian province of Carinthia. Its composition was brief in comparison with the 21 years it took Brahms to complete his First Symphony. The symphony is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings. The cheery and almost pastoral mood of the symphony often invites comparisons with Beethoven's Sixth Symphony, but, perhaps mischievously, Brahms wrote to"
"Marianne Kirchgessner Marianne Antonia Kirchgessner, also Mariana Kirchgessner, Kirchgäßner, (5 June 1769 in Bruchsal, Germany, - 9 December 1808), was a German glass harmonica player. She was blind from eye disease caused by smallpox when she was four years old. Kirchgessner's artistic qualities brought her the attention of great composers such as Muzio Clementi, Johann Gottlieb Naumann, Johann Friedrich Fasch, Johann Friedrich Reichardt and Franz Anton Hoffmeister. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in Vienna, in the last year of his life, composed for her—producing one of his best works for this instrument, the Quintet ""Adagio and Rondo for glass harmonica, flute, oboe,"
"Symphony No. 6 (Tchaikovsky) The Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, also known as the Pathétique Symphony, is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's final completed symphony, written between February and the end of August 1893. The composer entitled the work ""The Passionate Symphony"", employing a Russian word, Патетическая (""Pateticheskaya""), meaning ""passionate"" or ""emotional"", that was then (mis-)translated into French as ""pathétique"", meaning ""solemn"" or ""emotive"". The composer led the first performance in Saint Petersburg on 16/28 October of that year, nine days before his death. The second performance, conducted by Eduard Nápravník, took place 21 days later, at a memorial"
"Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, composed between 1822 and 1824. It was first performed in Vienna on 7 May 1824. One of the best-known works in common practice music, it is regarded by many critics and musicologists as one of Beethoven's greatest works and one of the supreme achievements in the history of western music. In the 2010s, it stands as one of the most performed symphonies in the world. The symphony was the first example of a major composer using voices in"
"his 17 mélodies (""art songs""), with texts by poets such as Baudelaire, Gautier, Leconte de Lisle and Goethe. A mental illness, diagnosed at the time as ""neurasthenia"", caused him abruptly to cease composing at age 37, in 1885. He devoted himself to his family and his other passions, drawing and painting. But increasing vision loss after the turn of the century eventually led to total blindness. He destroyed most of his music, leaving fewer than 40 works to posterity. In a poignant letter about the destruction of his incomplete opera, dated 19 January 1922, to the composer Jean Cras, his"
"Diogo Dias Melgás Diogo Dias Melgás (often ""Melgaz"") (Cuba (Portugal), 1638 - Évora, 1700) was a Portuguese composer of late-Renaissance sacred polyphony. Diogo Dias Melgás was born in Cuba, Alentejo, on 14 April 1638. He was a choirboy at the Colégio da Claustra in Évora in 1646. He took holy orders at the Cathedral of Évora, where he stayed the rest of his life, being a student of Manuel Rebelo, and holding the position of ""mestre de capela"" for about 30 years. He died blind and extremely poor on 3 February 1700. He was the last of the great Portuguese"
"Chamber Symphony (Enescu) The Chamber Symphony, Op. 33, in E major, is a symphony written for twelve instruments, and the last work finished by the Romanian composer George Enescu. The earliest ideas eventually taken up in the Chamber Symphony date back to a sketch for a septet for winds and piano, dating from around the time of the Octet for strings, Op. 7 (1900). The score is dated May 1954, a year before his death but less than two months before Enescu suffered the cerebral stroke in July that made all work impossible. The final markings to the score had"
"Wittgenstein is not exceptionally original or personal. The concerto breathes the spirit of Schumann, reminds one of Tschaikowsky (in the beginning) and Grieg (in the final movement). The beginning of this concerto promises more than the rest gives. Extraordinary is the transfer of the Cadenza to the last movement."" Rudolf Braun's known works include: 11. Bidnick, Richard A., Left Handed – Piano Concertos for the Left hand alone – The Pianists who Inspired the Composers. April 2005 Rudolf Braun Rudolf Braun (21 October 186930 December 1925) was an Austrian pianist and composer who was born congenitally blind. He was born"
"symphonies The following sources illustrate the confusion around the numbering of Schubert's late symphonies. The B minor ""Unfinished"" Symphony is variously published as No. 7 and No. 8, in both German and English. Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works (mainly Lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music and a large body of piano and chamber music. His major works include the Piano Quintet in"
"Moondog Louis Thomas Hardin (May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999), also known as Moondog, was an American musician, composer, theoretician, poet and inventor of several musical instruments. He was blind from the age of 16. Hardin lived in New York City from the late 1940s until 1972, and during this time he could often be found on 6th Avenue, between 52nd and 55th Streets, wearing a cloak and a horned helmet sometimes busking or selling music, but often just standing silently on the sidewalk. He was widely recognized as ""the Viking of 6th Avenue"" by thousands of passersby and"
"is the late works that will ultimately be the most influential parts of Schnittke's output. After a stroke in 1994 left him almost completely paralysed, Schnittke largely ceased to compose. He did complete some short works in 1997 and also a Ninth Symphony; its score was almost unreadable because he had written it with great difficulty with his left hand. The Ninth Symphony was first performed on 19 June 1998 in Moscow in a version deciphered – but also 'arranged' – by Gennady Rozhdestvensky, who conducted the premiere. After hearing a tape of the performance, Schnittke indicated he wanted it"
"John W. Bischoff John W. Bischoff (27 November 1850 in Chicago – May 30, 1909 in Washington, DC) was a blind musician and composer. Blind from age two, Bischoff went on to become a noted organist, compiler of musical collections, and composer. His compilations included a significant number of his own works, and include ""Gospel Bells"" (1883), ""God Be With You"" (1880) and ""Not Half Has Been Told"" (1877). He was the principal organist at the first Congregational Church in Washington from 1874 till his death in 1909. Bischoff lost his sight at about two years of age, and attended"
"1863 he was almost totally blind. In the decades after his death in Naples in 1870, his output was largely forgotten, but it has been occasionally revived and recorded since World War II, although it has yet to achieve anything like the present-day popularity of the most famous compositions by his slightly younger contemporaries: see Donizetti's compositions and Bellini's compositions. The French soloist Jean-Pierre Rampal notably recorded several Mercadante concertos for flute and string orchestra*, including the grand and romantic E minor concerto, which has since gained some popularity among concert flautists. Notes Sources Saverio Mercadante Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante"
"loss became profound: at the end of the premiere of his Ninth Symphony in 1824, he had to be turned around to see the tumultuous applause of the audience because he could hear neither it nor the orchestra. His hearing loss did not prevent him from composing music, but it made playing at concerts—a lucrative source of income—increasingly difficult. After a failed attempt in 1811 to perform his own Piano Concerto No. 5 (the ""Emperor""), which was premiered by his student Carl Czerny, he never performed in public again until he directed the premiere performance of the Ninth Symphony in"
"of the work finally performed as an interpretation of his manuscript is problematic. In any case a ""Symphony No. 0"" by Schnittke has been performed and recorded, so his total should be ten. Alexander Glazunov completed the first movement of his Ninth but worked on it no further for the 26 more years he lived. In an interview recorded at the time of its premiere, Malcolm Arnold stated that he intended his Ninth Symphony (his op. 128) to be his last; it proved to be so, but he was to live for another twenty years, reaching opus 142. Jean Sibelius"
"David Duffield Wood David Duffle Wood (March 2, 1838 — March 25, 1910), sometimes written as David Duffield Wood or David Duffel Wood, was an American composer, educator, and musician. He was blind from early childhood. Wood was the organist and choir master at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia for 46 years. David Duffle Wood was born in 1838 near Pittsburgh, one of the six sons of Jonathan Humphreys Wood and Wilhelmina Jones Wood. Through illness and accident, he lost his vision as a young child. He was five years old in 1843 when he was enrolled in the"
"Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 1809 4 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early romantic period. Mendelssohn wrote symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano music and chamber music. His best-known works include his Overture and incidental music for ""A Midsummer Night's Dream"", the ""Italian Symphony"", the ""Scottish Symphony"", the overture ""The Hebrides"", his mature Violin Concerto, and his String Octet. His ""Songs Without Words"" are his most famous solo piano compositions. After a long period of relative denigration due to changing musical tastes and antisemitism"
"Society of Paris. The Musical Union ceased to exist in 1880, when Ella gave up active work. For the last twenty years of his life he lived at 9 Victoria Square, London, where he died on 2 October 1888, after repeated attacks of paralysis. For some years before his death he had been totally blind. He was buried in Brompton Cemetery on 5 October. He wrote a ""Victoria March"" in November 1837, almost his only experiment as a composer. In 1855 he was appointed musical lecturer to the London Institution, and the substance of three lectures on melody, harmony, and"
"Grande symphonie funèbre et triomphale Grande symphonie funèbre et triomphale (English: ""Grand Funeral and Triumphal Symphony""), Op. 15, is the fourth and last symphony by the French composer Hector Berlioz, first performed on 28 July 1840 in Paris. This symphony is one of the earliest examples of a symphony composed for wind band. The French government commissioned the symphony for the celebrations marking the tenth anniversary of the July Revolution which had brought Louis-Philippe I to power, for which it was erecting the July Column in the Place de la Bastille. Berlioz had little sympathy for the régime, but welcomed"
"Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born Gnanathesikan; 2 June 1943) is an Indian film composer, singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, orchestrator, conductor-arranger and lyricist who works in the Indian Film Industry, predominantly in Tamil. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Indian music composers, he is credited for introducing western musical sensibilities in the Indian musical mainstream. Being the first Asian to compose a full symphony with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, Ilaiyaraaja is known to have written the entire symphony in just 13 days which has never been done before in the world. He is also a gold medalist in classical guitar from"
"music that will be contemporary forever."" The ""Große Fuge"" originally served as the final movement of his Quartet No. 13 in B major (Op. 130), written in 1825. But Beethoven's publisher, who was concerned about the dismal commercial prospects of the piece, urged Beethoven to replace the fugue with a new finale. Beethoven complied, and the ""Große Fuge"" was published separately in 1827 as Op. 133. It was composed when Beethoven was almost completely deaf, and is considered to be part of his set of late quartets. It was first performed in 1826, as the finale of the B quartet,"
"Alexia Sloane Alexia Sloane is a British synaesthetic blind composer and poet. She was the winner of the 2016 Cambridge Young Composer of the Year competition and also one of seven winners of the Classic FM/Royal Philharmonic Society 25th Birthday Commissions in 2017. Sloane lives in Cambridge, England. Whilst Sloane was born fully sighted, at the age of 2, she was found to have an optic nerve glioma and she subsequently lost her eyesight completely in spite of a lengthy chemotherapy treatment lasting 18 months. Sloane began composing seriously when she was 12. Common themes that run through her compositions"
"the Philadelphia Orchestra played a string quartet she composed at her memorial service. Her scores and other papers are archived at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Another collection of her papers are at the University of Pennsylvania. Frances McCollin Frances McCollin (October 24, 1892 — February 25, 1960) was an American composer and musician, who was blind from early childhood. She was the first woman to win the Clemson Prize from the American Guild of Organists. In 1951, she was named a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania. Frances McCollin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1892, the daughter of Edward Garrett"
"cembalo for the first book and a Hemsch for the second book. This recording is only available in the Far East (Korea, Japan). Helmut Walcha Helmut Walcha (October 27, 1907 – August 11, 1991) was a blind German organist who specialized in the works of the Dutch and German baroque masters and is known for his recordings of the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Born in Leipzig, Walcha was blinded at age 19 after vaccination for smallpox. Despite his disability, he entered the Leipzig Conservatory and became an assistant at the Thomaskirche to Günther Ramin, who was professor"
"Smutna opowieść Smutna opowieść (Preludia do wieczności) [Polish for ""A Sorrowful Tale (Preludes to Eternity)""; less frequently translated as ""A Sad Story""], in F-sharp minor, Op. 13 is the fifth of Mieczysław Karłowicz's six symphonic poems and the last finished work of him (though begun before this, the ""Epizod na maskaradzie, Op. 14"" remained unfinished at the time of his death). Harmonically, it is the most innovative of all his compositions, while stylistically it is near to the aesthetic of expressionism. It is also the shortest of his symphonic poems at just 221 bars lasting about 11 mins. Karłowicz began"
"Adolphe Marty Adolphe Marty (29 September 1865 – 28 October 1942) was a French organist, improviser, composer and music educator who was blind for most of his life. Born in Albi, he became blind at the age of 2.5 years old. He entered the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles of Paris in 1874 and worked the organ with Louis Lebel (1831-1888). From 1884 to 1886, he followed courses in music composition with Ernest Guiraud and pipe organ with César Franck at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSM) where he won the first prize of organ in 1886. He was the first"
"included in ""The Complete Carolan Songs & Airs"" by Caitríona Rowsome. The five pieces that are said to be composed by Carolan rather than simply ""improved"" are: Turlough O'Carolan Turlough O'Carolan, ( ; ) (167025 March 1738) was a blind Celtic harper, composer and singer in Ireland whose great fame is due to his gift for melodic composition. Although not a composer in the classical sense, Carolan is considered by many to be Ireland's national composer. Harpers in the old Irish tradition were still living as late as 1792, and ten, including Arthur O'Neill, Patrick Quin and Donnchadh Ó Hámsaigh,"
"Unfinished symphony An unfinished symphony is a fragment of a symphony, by a particular composer, that musicians and academics consider incomplete or unfinished for various reasons. The archetypal unfinished symphony is Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 (sometimes called ""Schubert's Unfinished Symphony""), written in 1822, six years before his death. It features two fully orchestrated movements. While it seems clear from sketches that Schubert set out to create a traditional four-movement symphony, this has been the subject of endless debate. Schubert wrote the symphony for the Graz Musical Society, and gave the manuscript to his friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner, in his capacity"
"Symphony No. 10 (Mahler) Symphony No. 10 by Gustav Mahler was written in the summer of 1910, and was his final composition. At the time of Mahler's death the composition was substantially complete in the form of a continuous draft, but not fully elaborated or orchestrated, and thus not performable. Only the first movement is regarded as reasonably complete and performable as Mahler intended. Perhaps as a reflection of the inner turmoil he was undergoing at the time (Mahler knew he had a failing heart and his wife had been unfaithful), the 10th Symphony is arguably his most dissonant work."
"Both works delay the dominant until the last possible moment. Smutna opowieść Smutna opowieść (Preludia do wieczności) [Polish for ""A Sorrowful Tale (Preludes to Eternity)""; less frequently translated as ""A Sad Story""], in F-sharp minor, Op. 13 is the fifth of Mieczysław Karłowicz's six symphonic poems and the last finished work of him (though begun before this, the ""Epizod na maskaradzie, Op. 14"" remained unfinished at the time of his death). Harmonically, it is the most innovative of all his compositions, while stylistically it is near to the aesthetic of expressionism. It is also the shortest of his symphonic poems"
"afflicted by blindness from the 1960s, and completely without sight from 1978, he continued to write almost to the end. A documentary film about him, titled ""Ibycus: A Poem by John Heath-Stubbs"", was made by the Chilean director Carlos Klein in 1997. He died in London on 26 December 2006, aged 88. His diction was strong, yet subtle. Running through his work, like that of most romantic poets, was a nostalgia for ""classicism"". He was consciously literary, and his work was elaborately wrought rather than spontaneous, so it was not the kind of poetry likely to have mass appeal. However,"
"Johann von Herbeck Johann Ritter von Herbeck (25 December 1831 – 28 October 1877) was an Austrian musician, born in Vienna, best known for leading the premiere of Franz Schubert's ""Unfinished"" Symphony. He was practically a self-educated musician, but by hard work rose rapidly from the position of chorister to that of professor in the Vienna Conservatory. From 1859 to 1870 and again from 1873 to 1877 he conducted the concerts of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, which under his energetic leadership became events of prime importance. In 1866 he was made chief court Kapellmeister and from 1871 to 1875 he"
"Zozimus Michael J Moran (ca. 1794 – 3 April 1846), popularly known as Zozimus, was an Irish street rhymer. He was a resident of Dublin and also known as the ""Blind Bard of the Liberties"" and the ""Last of the Gleemen"". Michael J. Moran was born circa 1794 in Faddle Alley off the Blackpitts in Dublin's Liberties and lived in Dublin all his life. At two weeks old he was blinded by illness. He developed an astounding memory for verse and made his living reciting poems, many of which he had composed himself, in his own lively style. He was"